“Si Lewen: The Parade” on View at the Menil Drawing Institute

Si Lewen: The Parade, at our partner institution the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, presents a series of sixty-three drawings by the Polish-born artist Si Lewen, made in preparation for his groundbreaking graphic novel, The Parade (1957). Without a single written word, the drawings created for the book speak to cycles of war informed by the final days of World War I; the armistice parades after that conflict, the rise of Nazism, and the violence of World War II. This compelling and prescient exhibition, on view until September 3, is the first in the United States to bring together the complete set of works from The Parade.

Image: Si Lewen, Untitled drawing from Si Lewen, The Parade, charcoal, crayon, and tusche on gessoed board, Collection of the International Institute for Restorative Practices. © International Institute for Restorative Practices, Bethlehem, PA